Circulates throughout the world Established 1903

Rudge Centenary celebrations

One hundred years ago, the Coventry based Rudge-Whitworth company sold its first motorcycle. The firm continued to make motorcycles in Coventry until 1938.

On Saturday 17 July 2010 this centenary will be commemorated by The Rudge Enthusiasts’ Club with a motorcycle parade beginning at 11.45am from the Hare and Hounds on Watery Lane, Keresley End. The parade will pass through Radford on the Tamworth Road on its way to a static display on the Millennium Place and a reception at the Coventry Transport Museum at noon.

The parade will depart the museum at 2.30pm for a service of remembrance at the Rudge-Whitworth war memorial at St Nicholas – Radford led by Fr Graham Marcer at 2.45pm. This memorial is quite different to the usual memorial – it also contains the names of those Rudge-Whitworth workers who gave service in the Great War as well as those who served and died for their country. The parade will continue to finish at the Hare and Hounds at 3.15pm.

The parade will be led by the Rudge Enthusiasts’ Club President, Coventry resident and businessman Dave McMahon, riding his veteran 99-year-old Rudge-Whitworth motorcycle. This machine is the third one made by the company. The president will be flanked by club chairman Mike Wild and vice-presidents and followed by over 50 members riding Rudge-Whitworth machines spanning the whole of the product range of this famous Coventry firm.

Background information
The Rudge Enthusiasts’ Club has 900 members located all over the world, with large concentrations in Australia and New Zealand and other former colonial countries. A dedicated following is active in most central European countries.

The club operates a new-spares scheme which manufactures, and holds £¼million of stock covering a wide selection of the machines made. A large social network is administered by area representatives through whom many riding events are organised.

Rudge machines are used in active competition and are particularly successful in the vintage grass-track, dirt-track and circuit race events held all over the world.

It is estimated up to 4000 Rudge motorcycles exist today in working or broken conditions. The club has 2000 examples listed on its machine register.

Dan Rudge of Wolverhampton, an engineer and landlord of The Tiger’s Head Inn, started to make to make two, three and four wheeled cycles of various designs beginning with the velocipede in 1868. The ‘high bicycle’ or ‘penny farthing’ appeared in 1870 with designs improving year on year. Examples of the evolution of these machines are displayed in the Coventry Transport Museum. Dan raced these machines and soon came up with the idea of improving the wheel bearings to allow faster acceleration and starting and less friction-resistance. He patented a revolutionary adjustable wheel bearing incorporating ball bearings with 'adjustable cups and cones' which laid a sound foundation for the company. Dan Rudge enjoyed a reputation for manufacturing ‘cycles of quality and excellence. A Rudge was the bicycle of choice for racers.

When Dan died, in 1880, Coventry Solicitor George Woodcock bought the company and its patents and began the expansion of this business incorporating other manufacturers along the way. The Pugh family eventually took over the business started by Dan Rudge in 1894 and incorporating it into their Birmingham based Whitworth Cycles company forming the Coventry centred Rudge-Whitworth group of companies. While bicycles and the wheel bearing business progressed, experiments with motorising the bicycles using bought in components were conducted at the beginning of the 20th century but failed to bring anything to market.

We had to wait until 1910 for a new ‘all Rudge’ motorcycle to be designed by the factory engineers. The blueprints were completed on the 18 July 1910 and a series of motorcycles were built. The first example left the factory for sale on 27 July 1910. Rudge-Whitworth continued their development investing heavily in materials science and race development. This was to stand the company in good stead as reliability improved.

The iconic Ulster name was born out of the race successes in Ulster in 1928 in the hands of Graham Walker, Rudge-Whitworth sales manager and racer. The Ulster Grand Prix was the fastest road race in the world. The race-led model development continued until the economic recession in the early 1930s cut-off sales and forced the company into administration.

The valuable patents for adjustable wheel bearings allowed the company to stagger on until motorcycle production was continued under the new owners, EMI. The outbreak of WWII caused a further suspension of sales and the company used its resources in war-production work consigning the Rudge-Whitworth motorcycle into history. Following the return to peace, the marque was further developed by AL Bailey. Bailey experimented with twin cylinder machines along with the bread and butter work on the natural development of the standard Rudge machine.

A few examples of Bailey-Rudge machines survive; the largest being an experimental 1000cc twin owned by Dave McMahon who continues to develop this machine in an attempt to solve the multiple problems in the oiling system.